How could anyone mistake these two?

I suppose it's easy to confuse these two people, if the guy on the right would've never taken off off those god-awful Star Trek glasses. But he did...for 23 years straight on one of the most beloved children's shows ever to grace network television, The Reading Rainbow.!!

Actual text conversation with an individual whose identity will be kept anonymous (to avoid the much deserved hate mail that would follow, for not knowing the difference between those guys, should said identity be exposed):

Anonymous: (at a sportsbar, watching football)
Me: (Sitting at home, watching ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas movies)

Anonymous (3:23PM): I think one of the actors from the cosby show is sitting next to me. I don't know his name.
Me (3:23PM): Which one do you think he is? I'll look it up
Anonymous (3:26PM): He's black
Anonymous (3:26PM): Might not have been the cosby show. First name starts with an L? Def him.
Me (3:27PM): First real name? Oh gosh...you're definitely not the person to know black actors! Sheesh!
Anonymous (3:28PM): You prob dated him :-)
Me (3:29PM): Touché.
Anonymous (3:33PM): He was the guy on sesame street.
Me (3:35PM): Savion Glover? Guy with dreads?
Me (3:37PM): This guy?

Anonymous (3:39PM): Definitely him! Ha - that's funny. He was pissed and I tried to placate him. Silly actors.
Me (3:41PM): Oh please! You were probably too afraid to even say hello!!
Anonymous (3:43PM): Come on! Say hello to a douchebag? Please.
Me (3:44PM): Bahaha. Well, I don't think Levar Burton is a douchebag at all. "But you don't have to take my word for it" <----Shameless Reading Rainbow quote.

One of the coolest things I've seen in Hershey...

I was on the phone with my mom, when I kept hearing what sounded like ambulance sirens. I mentioned it to her, and started to get really concerned when I noticed the noise was getting closer and closer. I finally ran into the living room and looked out the blinds...only to see one of the neatest things!!

I should mention that I live up a hill, on a dead end street....so the fact that the fire truck found its way into my neighborhood, made me ecstatic; I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning!!

I should also mention that this does NOT make me enjoy the Winter any more. It still sucks.

Okay, so maybe my blog title isn't as relevant anymore...

I realized tonight that the title of my blog meant so much more before all the crazy things that make electricity not such an immediate need anymore. It became especially clear to me as I retired to my bedroom tonight, carrying my laptop, iPad, work iPhone, and personal cell phone. Nice. And, should my electricity go out again, and the batteries die in each of my nifty gadgets...I happen to have a wind-up flashlight I can use to traverse through the dark shadows of my apartment until I find my backup iPhone/iPad charger; and should that be stolen by some battery stealing bandit...I also have an emergency solar battery, with convenient usb adapter, that'd come in handy! If all else fails, this apartment building has outside electrical outlets...so my phone will always get the charge it needs.

In any case...checking fb without electricity isn't quite as hard as it used to be. And, for that matter, my stories aren't as "rock bottom-esque" as some have been in the past. But, not to fret...a new year is upon us...there's no telling what's in store in 2011!! ;-)

Just a random thought.

C'mon, Friday....almost 26 more minutes!!

Ugh...it's that time of year again...

You know what's worse than snow? Shoveling it.  Worse than ice? Scraping it.

(That's a picture from last year...my first snow shoveling experience)

 

Today was the first morning I had to scrape the ice off my window. Not the first freeze. But the first, "are you kidding me - I'm going to be late for work -why doesn't my defroster work better" type of ice scraping! Bad start to the day. Luckily for me, my inaugural winter was one of "PA's worst"...so this year doesn't seem quite as treacherous as last year's. ::knock on wood::

 

For starters, I own a coat. In my defense, i used to think I owned a coat when I first moved up here. I quickly realized that was but a mere windbreaker. It now lives in my cube...for days when the indoor temperature is just a tad chilly. I now own several coats: A long, black, wool peacoat; a short, red, fashionable, wool coat; a trendy, green, super warm short coat with a hood; and my newest additions: 2 down coats that I purchased this year. One is a shorter, brown Calvin Klein down coat. The other is a longer brown, down Marc New York coat. They're both fairly similar  - but the latter will be especially great for my trips to Toronto! I also am smarter about wearing gloves, scarves, and hats this year.

 

I cannot forget two recent purchases: my new heated ice scraper, and my new, arctic guard winter windshield cover...which will reduce my chances of needing to use my heated ice scraper!! Love it. Not looking forward to using the aforementioned...but definitely looking forward to seeing their results!! =)

 

Well, gotta run. I need to get enough sleep tonight to build in about 20 extra minutes for possible ice scraping, car warming, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't put up the arctic shield tonight...soooo....keep your fingers crossed that the ice isn't too bad in the morning. IF it is...I'll be sure to take a picture of my heated ice scraper being put to good use!!

 

Happy (almost) Friday!!

Fly, Birdy, Fly!

So, the "transition" is practically official at this point! As many of you know, I've spent the last two months and twenty-one days doing two jobs, waiting for a backfill to be hired and onboarded into my former role; the role I moved up here for originally. My "new" role is very similar, but is customer-facing now. With that said, I couldn't be happier to pass the proverbial torch on this morning!

 

This is technically his third week on the job...but the nature of the role made today especially significant. Once a month, we receive data that measures our national performance- I've traditionally been the messenger of that info. Today, the new guy got to handle it. Sweet. Now, it did come with a caveat; I had to arrive at work at 6:30am to leave enough time to walk him through the process involved. After running the data, it goes all the way to the Senior Leadership team...so ensuring that it's accurate is critical.

 

ANYWAY - there will certainly be a learning curve involved, but I'm so excited to be in a position where I can dedicate my time and energy to one role. It'll be interesting because on one hand, I want so badly to just give him all of the answers and make this as smooth of a transition as possible. But, I'll need to temper that by letting him make mistakes, learn things the hard way, and provide guidance when necessary. More than anything, I'm ready to set him free (which means setting ME free), so that he can learn and grow the way that I did in the role...and make it his own!

 

Fly, Birdy, Fly!

This post cost me $2.99 to write

Considering there are, at most, five people who follow my blog...you're all probably well aware that my boyfriend recently bought me an iPad for an anniversary gift! Suh-weet!! :-)

It's especially exciting because I'm an Internet junkie. I'm learning more and more (through interactions with other people) that I know way too much about wacky google news headlines, ridiculous websites, random trivia facts, and absurd excel tips and pc keyboard shortcuts; all of which bring great pride. I'm pretty certain that starting every sentence with, "I saw this google news headline..." or "I just read a book about that" makes it pretty darn clear that I need a life. Cue the iPad.

Goal: write blogs everyday.
Action: I bought an app for it.
Truth: I'm a sucker and probably won't post any more frequently.
Observation: I need a Bluetooth keyboard.

So...

(returning on 2/13 to finish this post)
I bought Jared a bluetooth keyboard. He doesn't use it. I'm visiting him now...and stealing it. ;-) (see Megabus post for details about my trip)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

"If you want to look at it visually"

These are the sorts of things I hear on a daily basis in good ol' Corporate America. Honestly, I could write a book...of "buzzwords", made up words, and ridiculous things I see in e-mails! And it'd be absolutely hilarious.

Back to the title. "If you want to look at it visually"...?? How ELSE would you LOOK at it??


Oh gawd.

Mary loves it that I'm eating better...

I'm four days into my new "Paleo lifestyle"...and things are going suprisingly well. Aside from a $95 grocery bill to cover a few (organic) staples, everything's been pretty normal overall.

On Sunday, I took my first dive into the 'real world', while living a Paleo lifestyle. Haha. On Day 2 of my journey, I was invited by Mary to go to an Eagles bar to watch the game. Alright, alright...Eagles? Yes, I know...I'm supposed to be a Jaguars fan, by virtue of Jacksonville being my hometown, but c'mon!...give me a little slack here! After all, I'm a far better girlfriend than football aficionado...so I should be forgiven since I'm supporting my boyfriend's team! Look at that face (see pic of me and bf)...how can you blame me??!? Hahaha (This was a picture from our Vegas trip - not the Sunday trip I'm referring to)

THIS is a picture of me this Sunday when I met Mary at Mr. G's to watch the game. I actually just bought that Jersey a few weeks ago when Mary and I spent an entire day shopping at the Tanger Outlets in Lancaster. Oh boy! Busy day...Expensive day!

This was my first weekend wearing my brand new jersey - so I had to take a picture to send to JFly! =)

But I digress...back to the story. For the first time (probably EVER), I went to a sportsbar and did NOT eat buffalo wings! No french fries, jalapeno poppers, cheesy burgers, no beer...not even RANCH dressing! Instead, I got a chicken caprese salad with pita chips. It was about the only thing on the menu that I could actually eat. And, even then, it was a far cry from Paleo. I saved the mozzarella cheese and pita for Mary - happy girl. I did have a picture of my meal (which I texted to my fellow Paleo buddy, Willie), but I must've deleted it from my phone. Probably for the best...it appeared even less appetizing than it actually was.

ANYWAY - I survived Sunday's bar experience (hardly)...and lived to tell about it. After our sunday afternoon football, we decided to take a shopping trip to Wegman's. It's about 40 minutes away from my apartment, has a pretty incredible organic/natural/healthy section. Now - don't get me wrong - the stuff is expensive!! BUT, I suppose it's worth it to pay a high premium for good health. I told Mary that I'd clean out my cabinets and give her all the stuff that I can no longer eat.

And that is exactly what I did...

Full boxes of cereal, crackers, pounds of Jasmine rice, brand new containers of syrup, hummus, greek yogurt, canned veggies, whole weat noodles, cinnamon raisin muffins (that was a hard one to say good-bye to), tuna fish, new things of whole wheat tortillas....

If you couldn't tell, I had just gone grocery shopping the weekend before reading this book....and Mary was more than happy to take the non-Paleo foods off of my hands. She's such a sacrificial lamb!!

(You may also notice that I always have enough food in my home to feed a small army...to get some insight into this...read an older post of mine: Canned Salmon never tasted so good.)

Good news: I feel that much more committed to this process (and Mary will be eating pancakes for breakfast tomorrow)

Bad news: (see pictures above).

By the way, did I mention that I've lost 7 lbs since last Thursday when I weighed myself. Not too shabby. It's a pretty tough road, but the more I think back to Robb Wolf's book, the harder it is for me convince myself to eat the way I always have...

Good-bye grains, dairy, and legumes!

Luckily, I've never been a huge fan of the legume family, so I shouldn't be missing out on entirely too much as I embark upon my newest adventure: Paleo diet.

In my last post, I briefly mentioned my latest read: The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. After reading 101 pages in the bookstore cafe, I enjoyed it so much that not only did I buy it right then...I also paid full price! I can't tell you the last time I bought a book at full price, let alone purchased one without first doing some comparison shopping online!!

Anyway, the book goes into great levels of detail about the original human diet and how our bodies are simply not designed to eat the crap we drown ourselves in daily. I was challenged to read three chapters before giving up on it...and I did just that. Next thing you know, I couldn't put the book down.

So here's the deal. I'm going to try it. For thirty days. Could this be short-lived on my part? Very possibly - but after reading the science behind what I'm doing to my body, I can't bare to eat another piece of bread or knowingly ingest gluten. I haven't completely read the book, but I'm sold so far. I read ahead to help me with my grocery shopping this morning. Surprisingly enough, my shopping list didn't change too drastically. The short of it is: No grains, no dairy, no legumes.

The dairy thing will be the hardest for me. I absolutely LOVE cheese. And ice cream. ::sigh:: BUT, I've done quite a bit of research and not only are there internet-based businesses that sell alternatives...but I can make much of those delicious dairy-free delights on my own! Well - 'delicious' may be debatable...I'll get back to you on that one.

I shared the book with my mom and sister, both of whom have decided to jump on the bandwagon. I'm really excited about this. And I know it will be tough - seemingly impossible at times...but if I continue to research it, learn what happens when I eat different foods, etc....then I'm sure I'll be left with only the option to eat well and take care of myself.

I'm off to a good start today. For lunch, I had "chicken fajita salad". I wish I had taken a picture, but I was waaaay too hungry after flag football practice to stop for one. Aside from the fact that I had to substitute spinach for red lettuce...the meal was sauteed chicken with peppers and onions, a little cumin powder, oregano...all on a bed of spinach, tomatos, and onions. Yummy Yummy Yummy.

For dinner, I made a delicious vegetable medley. I pretty much just threw some onions, mushrooms, asparagus and zucchini into a pan and sauteed it up with a little garlic, ground pepper and olive oil. Delish!

To go along with the veggies...(half of which, I saved for tomorrow's leftovers)...I made one of my favorites: broiled citrus salmon. It's pretty much a staple in my home...kind of an expensive one...but totally worth it.

To make it, I take a small salmon portion, lightly cover it in olive oil, and then create a light layer of minced garlic over the entire fish. For the minced garlic - it's nothing fancy. Once a month, I get a ton of garlic from the farmer's market (I actually buy it peeled, which makes life ten times easier), and take it home and go crazy mincing!!! It's probably more like 'pureed' garlic than minced...but whatever. After that, I add fresh ground pepper and top it all off with the juice of half a lime. Yummy.

After broiling the salmon for about fifteen minutes...I remove it from the oven and add the last half of the lime juice to the top! Ooohhh yummy!! I did take the time to snap a picture of this one...because it just looked (and tasted) so delicious!

For an after dinner dessert, I washed a few strawberries and indulged! I suppose there are some things I'll have to really get used to with this whole Paleo diet...but, I have day one under my belt, and I'm feeling great about it. I plan on taking a few "before" pictures tomorrow to get a better idea of how this affects my body, skin, etc. If nothing else, I want to keep this up for thirty days!! I know that I can do it - I just have to be strong and stick to it!! Luckily for me, it looks like I'm developing quite the support system along teh way! =) We'll see where it goes...

I may even try to make carrot cake tomorrow...using "almond flour" and coconut milk! Sounds amazing, doesn't it?! IF I make it...there WILL be pictures! Wish me luck!

Screw you, tangerine girl!

The last time I ventured to the Borders bookstore for some good old fashioned Friday fun...I found myself incredibly annoyed. A college aged couple sat down right next to me...just far enough from me that they avoided sitting in my lap, yet close enough that I could probably lick their faces if I had tried. Yes, that's a really creepy and gross way of explaining proximity - but it was for effect. Whatever.

Anyway, I felt like I was stuck in a "coming of age" high school summer reading list book. The girl and guy spent a ridiculous amount of time discussing the many 'sex'capades and dramatic dealings of themselves and their friends, clearly in a futile attempt to assert their age and maturity. Gasp.

I could've vomited at that - but would rather save my regurgitation for what occurred just before that. Minutes after they first sat down, they pulled out a bag of Fried Chicken. I kid you not. Fried Chicken. In the middle of the bookstore - Bam! Fried Chicken. Not only did they proceed to openly unwrap their dinners and eat a Sunday Dinner next to me...they had the audacity to do so, whilst chomping with their mouths full. disgusting.

But I digress.

The point of THIS post is to tell you that I MUST be a magnet for idiots at the bookstore. Immediately after work, I rushed to the bookstore to check out a book that had been recommended to me earlier in the day. I found a cozy little table, far from anyone else...and was ready to determine if this book was worth purchasing.

Like clockwork, a group of obnoxious college-aged girls entered the cafe area. No. Please, no. Don't. Walk. Over. Here. These tables are crappy. The chairs are uncomfortable. What? You don't care? Oh. You'd rather sit down next to me and make my time at the bookstore a miserable experience? Wonderful.

Luckily, two of the three girls left right away. They had to run to Chipotle to pick dinner...and bring it back. In the next hour, I spent my time deciding exactly WHEN i should punch the remaining girl in the face. She started her obnoxiousness by drowning herself in hand sanitizer. Alright, no biggie - the girl likes cleanliness. Fine - I'll give her that one. .........Next, came the Bath and Bodyworks Sweet Pea lotion. Seriously? Yes. She doused herself in. Lathered her body from head to ...legs. Arms, elbows, check, check. The entire cafe reeked of the soft smell of shitty sweat peas.

Just when my nose began to recover from the olfactory abuse it had just endured...she pulled out a ziploc bag, lined with napkins. Oh no! What could be inside of that? What could she have possibly brought with her to the bookstore in a napkin-lined ziploc bag?

Yep. A tangerine. I kid you not - an unpeeled tangerine. What in the hell was she thinking??? Well, now I know exactly what she was thinking. This was a well-thought out, premeditated effort on her part. First, the sanitizer to wash her hands of the filth she had collected on her drive over. Then the lotion to soften her skin before the laborious tangerine peel she would assume. And that obnoxious biotch even had the foresight to pack a napkin-lined ziploc bag to pack her stupid little tangerine in. She knew that damn thing would be messy - and she prepared.

To that, I say, "Screw you tangerine girl. Your careful plotting and scheming to smuggle in your sticky snack was not appreciated. Furthermore, it was an insult to my intelligence (and that of avid readers worldwide) that you thought you could mask the smell of your citrus social sin with the strong scent of antibacterial soap or Sweet Pea lotion. This is a bookstore, tangerine girl. We, the bookstore cafe-type, are well-read and not easily fooled. How dare you!!"

Surely, I'm a magnet for this sort of ridiculousness. I just can't allow myself to believe that these things are normal. I'd be far less disenchanted to learn that I am the flame to these bookstore moths...than to believe for a second that this sort of behavior is either normal or acceptable.

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Didn't we just do this Fall thing last year??

Ugh. I can't believe it's cold again. To all the people out there who say, "I love Fall"... I say "suck it"!

I'll be the first to say it...I don't care what shade of golden auburn the leaves change, how crisp the air feels, how delicious apple cider tastes, or how fun it is to carve pumpkins...the fact remains that Fall means Summer is over and Winter is lurking around the icy cold corner!!

This is why I hate cold weather...

Hi. Those words actually mean something.

After seeing how often people confuse words...I decided to write the following: the longest (most random) use of misused words, together, and in context:

Please do not wait to pull your weight; please till your garden 'til the sun goes down. You're going to let your crops die! Have faith that you can affect how well they will grow; and the only side effects will be fatigue. Make sure you do a good job so that you can feel well immediately thereafter. It's going to be a difficult job, but watering and tilling your plants will ensure that their flowers blossom. I insured my garden because of its value, and I assure you that yours will also be productive. I don’t want to accept failure and plan to succeed in all areas except irrigation. I expect to meet the standard where that is concerned.

My garden will be located in the capitol of the state; and I will give it a name that starts with a capital letter. I would like to also invite my former high school principal, a woman whose principles are similar to my own, so that she can understand my principal motivation for seeing this project to fruition. It's critical that I reunite with the person who's responsible for inspiring me to succeed. I hope to invite more people by then, because I'd hate to have more chairs than people. On the other hand, if there are two too many in attendance, then I'd have only a minor shortage of chairs! I'd hate for my guests to be uncomfortable; their satisfaction is important to me.

You may not want my two cents, but you should also have enough sense to consider what scents you want your guests to smell. The presence of candles tends to allude to the importance of smells, but most can not elude the foul smell of the maneur that is used to fertilize the garden. If it bothers the guests, we can encourage them to stand farther away from the garden to help further their enjoyment.

I don't want to elicit too much personal information from you about your garden; however, I've heard that you may be growing some illicit plants? While my vice is shopping, yours may be different? Shall I use a vise to open your garden door and see the plants for myself? I promise I won't break anything, but taking a break from my work and exploring your garden may help to put a brake on the rumors! If I recall, the last time I visited your garden, I couldn't stop complimenting you on how well you managed to complement the floral arrangements with your unique sense of style. In fact, I liked the stationary garden bench of yours so much, I jotted down the dimensions on a piece of stationery and added space in my own garden for the same one! While I know you are averse to accepting criticism, I wouldn't want your choice of plants to bring about adverse effects for the neighborhood.

I'd also like to remind you to visit the last aisle of the store where garden tools are sold. There are special tools imported from a small Caribbean isle that you may purchase for a reasonable price. I don't want you to lose any money from investing in tools with loose screws. But I digress.


I used to think that if you use an event to promote the success of a garden, then that garden wouldn't succeed. For all intents and purposes, I would normally conclude that an event would be an intense means of promoting a purpose. What is the name of the garden that are planning to till? More importantly, will you be the gardener who will till the soil 'til the sun goes down?

I preheated the oven AND cooked a pizza while on hold with Comcast...

No joke.

I don't have the patience to explain in detail...but the blog's title should say it all. Ugh.

Boot Camp Day 2: I threw up.

Yup. I threw up. Second day of boot camp...vomit.

Let me back up and start by saying that Tuesday was my first official day of boot camp. We spent the hour and fifteen minutes doing a fitness assessment. If you can remember back to your high school days when you had to take the Presidential Fitness Test....same thing. But, boy is it a humbling experience when you're not in high school anymore!

I'm not sure if I'm really this out of shape, or if I'm psyching myself out because I'm just days away from my 25th birthday....and subconsciously I'm thinking that I'm getting old or something! BUT...either way - I feel out of shape! I guess I've gotten by with being "athletic enough" for a long time. Thank God for good genes...I'm learning that much of my body size can be directly attributed to that...it's certainly not hard work and exercise. Because THIS has been hard work and exercise...and I am definitely NOT USED to it! haha

The good news is that I finished my mile in less than ten minutes. The bad news is that I'm proud of that. Luckily, the "sit and reach" gave me something to be proud of. And I didn't do so poorly in the "plank" or "wall squat" either. We tracked a ton of fitness tests, and will revisit each of them when the 8-wk session ends.

Week one is done. Tuesday was the fitness assessment...and today (Thurs) was the real deal. Okay, truth be told, the instructor called it "Boot Camp 101". Not too promising. I was BEAT. OHMYGAWD. I was sooooo exhausted. My arms and legs were shaking. My stomach hurt. I felt light-headed. Bad, bad, bad. Next thing you know...vomit. Awesome.

Thankfully, I found it within me to keep going. And I did, albeit struggling, but I finished it nonetheless!

There are two options from here: 1. consider the boot camp fee a sunk cost and give up now OR 2. stick it out and come out of this a stronger person (fo' real! hehe).

The goal is to shoot for option 2 as of now...so if you see me, words of encouragement are welcomed!! Let's just hope I can get through this weekend in Vegas...without completing negating all of my hard work! ....On second thought, Vegas, here I come!!!

Agh! 25 is almost here!!

I'm turning 25 in ten days. Ten days. To celebrate the big birthday, my boyfriend and I are going with another couple to Vegas for a long weekend! We're absolutely thrilled. This will be my first trip to Sin City and I couldn't be any more excited! I've already told the bf that I want to see a comedy show, a hypnotist, and need to also set aside several hours for poolside relaxation! We're really looking forward to it.

The following weekend, I'll be flying back home to FL. Thank God. It'll have been six weeks since seeing my family, but for some reason, it seems so much longer! In fact, it'll have been 47 days...the same amount of time it's been since seeing the bf, considering the last time I saw him we were in FL together. I can't wait to go home!!! There's nothing like a hug from your favorite people in life!!

I guess every good thing comes at a price. Unfortunately, since I'll be traveling for those weekends, I'll miss the first two games of our flag football season. You may remember that I played flag football last year: The Hershey Squirts! As a matter of fact, that's how I met my bf, and many of the friends with whom I'm closest here in town! Since last football season, we've played dodgeball, ultimate frisbee, and kickball...but none seem to compare quite to football.

I recently discovered that I'm not getting enough sleep at night. Yeah - definitely not getting eight hours every night. But why? What in the world am I doing that's keeping me up at night? Aside from the nightly routine of emails, fb, tv, cooking, etc....it's the daily deals that's keeping me up at night. You read that right...daily deals. Seriously. Certainly you've seen sites where they offer one incredibly inexpensive deal every 24 hours...which makes it nearly impossible to NOT purchase it. Yeah, well, I'm a huge fan. And really enjoy staying up until midnight...just to make sure I get whatever "it" is...first. God help me.

I also joined a jewelry club. Yeah. Miss 'worst girl ever' joined a jewelry club. Truth be told, I've picked up several girly habits recently. I can stomach the idea of wearing eye makeup now...and even graduated from the days of ponytails and buns. Instead, I actually take a little bit of time in the morning ... really getting ready! Who knew! Somewhere along the way (after attending a jewelry party), I decided that not only is jewelry fun to wear...it also can really help to spruce up a boring outfit. And since I have an endless supply of boring outfits, well, you see where I'm getting with this. Jewelry isn't that bad. I actually enjoy it.

I think my problem is that I really enjoy receiving mail. Not the 'Buy 2 large pizzas, get a 1-liter of Coke free' sort of mail....or the utility bill...but, the package with my name (preferably hand-written), just dying to be ripped open before I even make it back from the mailbox to my place!!! For that reason, I also enjoy sending mail :-)

I'd like to do a better job of chronicling my life a bit more...but, I often find myself sidetracked. With so much going on in the coming weeks, the potential for riveting posts surely exists.

Looking forward to the next post!

It's been a while!

So, it's been more than four months since I last made any posts! But, I'd like to think that's a testament to how incredibly eventful my life has been this year!!

I'm shocked that it's already August - where has 2010 gone? Since my last post, a lot has happened. For starters, my bf moved away to Toronto. Ugh. Toronto, an even colder place than Central Pennsylvania! How is that even possible? He actually moved in late March, and has officially been gone for 5 months and 2 days. Yes, and 2 days. Every day seems to count when we're counting down until the next time we see one another. On the bright side, it's given as an excuse to travel quite a bit for mini reunions. We promised each other that we'd try our hardest to see each other at least once a month - and for the most part, it's worked. Our trips have included Buffalo, Niagara, Toronto (to see him), Arizona, Florida, and even Costa Rica! We've been busy!! And happy.

A week ago, while driving one Saturday morning, my engine blew up. Yes. Blew up. It's currently in the shop...getting a new(er) engine put in. If there were ever a check that hurt to write out...that was it. Blah.

One of my three interns went back to school a week ago. I'm convinced that he was my good luck charm - it's been a rough week since he left. Surely it's a complete coincidence...but it made him feel good when I told him that! haha

No other updates - but just wanted to get a quick post in now ... to get me on track for posting more from now on.

Vegas in one month for my 25th birthday! Oh boy!

How I lost my curly hair, my hoop earrings, and my identity in Corporate America...

I started working in Corporate America when I was just 19 years old. I was offered an internship at the headquarters of a Fortune 500 railroad company in Florida. I was certain that it was my big break. All I needed to do was get my foot in the door, meet new people, build my network, collect business cards, send thank you notes, shake hands, and kiss babies. Right?

Well, apparently, that's about all it took. To be 19 and working in Corporate America, it seemed like it didn't take much to impress people. Come to work early, leave work late, schedule my college classes around my internship...and before I knew it, I was working full time and juggling a full schedule of 5-6 classes each semester. There was a year that I even worked a waitressing/bartending job aoub 30-40hrs/week, too! I was busy!

But it was easy.

After completely rearranging my schedule...and my goals (I transitioned out of my Marketing internship within 3 months, and moved into the full time HR role. I had also picked up a double major in Transportation and Logistics, putting my double major in the Spanish language on the back burner to later become a mere minor)...I had done it. I was rubbing elbows with all the vice presidents, had recurring lunches with the board of directors, knew someone in every department, and could pull strings when I needed to. And I did.

I prided myself in the ability to 'play the game'...and I was on a winning streak. I followed all the tips I read about in books, "Dress for the position you want, not the one you're in", "Never eat alone", I learned about every one of the "7 habits of Highly Effective People", and all because I wanted to transform myself "From Good to Great". And I did.

Before I knew it, I was a few months away from 23 years old...and doing the work of a handful of post-graduate, experienced professionals.......for the price of an intern. I spent all of my time stategizing; conjuring up one idea after the next for ways to climb the corporate ladder by 25. And every one of my tactics seemed to work.

It didn't help when people knew I was only 19 or 20 years old. I didn't want them to know I had originally landed the internship through INROADS, a minority based internship program. I had hoped to fit in as much as possible and blend in with the rest of the seasoned professionals. And I did.

I started straightening my hair, and had convinced myself that "curly hair wasn't professional". I can even remember telling my mom that, as I struggeled to straighten my hair in time enough to make it to work thirty minutes before my coworkers did. And every morning, as I packed both my bag for work and my backpack...I would also pack a pair of hoop earrings or jeans to help me transform back into who I really was after work...and moved into 5 hours of classes for the evening.

That didn't last long. I started to associate the things that made me unique and helped me to stand out as the very things that kept me from moving up. And I think I was right. I straighted my hair every morning so I could pull it back in a bun and be as discrete as possible. I avoided wearing eyeliner so that my eyes wouldn't appear any more almond-shaped than they already were. And I refused to wear hoop earrings, for fear of fulfilling every stereotype of Hispanic-looking women that I'd battled for the last 19+ years of my pre-corporate america days. I sought out frumpy clothes at the mall, and opted for button down, collared shirts, blazers, and slacks ...not only at work, but also afterwards. I had worked so hard to squash the intern label and forge a path in corporate america. And I did.

But for what price?

When I left that company, I had a lot to show for 3+ years of experience in a Fortune 500 headquarters office: professional experience in a field other than my major, an incredible resume with things that wouldn't directly relate to a career I had hoped to attain, a closet full of boring, collared shirts, and a strong network of coworkers and friends, most of whom knew only the "professional alex chavez"...and had/still have very little idea of the little quirks that make me so unique.

I spent some time on fb last night looking at the profile pictures I'd chosen to represent myself over the last few years. (Yes, I know that fb should not be the end all, be all of my identity...but you know where I'm getting at with this). And of 71 profile pictures, in only 3 of them did I have curly hair. (or "wavy", as my sister describes it).

My answer to that? Here's a snapshot of me at work today...you may not be able to see it here...but my hair is curly, and I'm wearing questionably large hoop earrings! It feels great.



After brainstorming the entire ride to work this morning about the title for this blog, I knew I had to write about it. And I did.

But what next? We shall see...

"4 Person boat trumps 2 person boat every time."

...and more details regarding the aftermath at Moe's...

Hello, Default!!

So, I took this picture of myself on Skype...and pretty much thought it was the most awesome thing ever. Yeah, I said it...I like a picture of myself. C'mon...like YOU'VE never taken a picture that you really liked...and immediately wanted to share it with 800+ friends?

I'M ON A BOAT...with strangers!

It was a gorgeous day in Harrisburg today and I wanted to soak up every bit of sunshine I could!

I woke up early this morning...okay, okay, I slept in....and walked up to the market to get a sandwich for lunch. I wish I would have taken a picture, but believe me when I say that you'll never eat a sandwich from Subway again once you have one of these subs!! It was soo delicious; but I digress.

I ate my lunch at the market, sitting outside and basking in the Pennsylvania sun. Loving Life. Once I walked back home, I couldn't bare to sit inside on a day like this so I put on some shorts, a tank top, and packed a bag with the essentials: large towel, 3 magazines, 1 book, water bottle, and my trusty weather radio.

I walked over to the riverfront, which is about three blocks away and got comfortable right at the shoreline. How awesome to be sun bathing again...oh, how I missed the sun so much!!

After about an hour of relaxing at the riverfront, minding my own business...the sounds of my little weather radio are completely drowned out, and all I hear is this super duper loud music...coming from a pontoon boat down the Susquehanna River. As the boat passes, I hear the people on it laughing and joking around as they danced like they were at a nightclub. Hillarious! They pulled the boat near me and asked if I wanted to get on...I politefully declined. But, that wasn't enough for them. They looped back around about five minutes later...now having changed the music from Rihanna to Eric Clapton...still dancing like they were at the club though. haha.

I told them that maybe if they looped back around one more time, I'd reconsider. Without hesitation, they turned the boat around as if it weren't 20 feet long! I hadn't anticipated they'd do that...and had to think fast! They 'parked' the boat right next to me and spent the next twenty mintues trying to convince me to hop on. Not only did I think it was a bad idea...I thought it was a DUMB one, too.

After about 20 minutes of talking to them, I found out that they were decent individuals, all of whom either owned businesses or were professionals in the area. I eventually gave in and jumped on the boat - but made them pinky promise they'd bring me back after one loop around City Island. Certainly it became safe after the pinky swear...I mean, that's practically a legally binding contract! Right?

Anyway - had a blast riding the river on the pontoon boat with complete strangers! I know it's crazy (and dumb), but it worked out just fine. Met a handful of new friends, learned about a couple restaurants and bars that they each owned in the area...and got a little bit of a tan while I was at it!

It's days like this that make me LOVE living here :-)

We're going to the Championships!!

We learned very early on that the Hershey Squirts are not exactly the best dodgeball players (see earlier post). But, it didn't stop us. We kept going, and going, and going (poor joke inspired by our team color). The season playoffs were last week - top teams were divided into Varsity playoffs and Junior Varsity playoffs...we made JV. Played our first game at 8pm - riveting performance - and followed it by the game that would determine if we made it to the championships.....





As you can tell by the title of this blog - we won! Championship game is next Thursday...but I won't be able to play :-( It will be the first game I've missed as a Squirt, both football and dodgeball. I'll be en route to visit JFly in Toronto for the weekend!!

I was pulled over by a cop.

He was on a bike. In front of my work. At lunch time.

FML.

My Journey: Ultimate Fitness Plan - Day 1

So today is Day 1 of my personal Women's Health Magazine "Ultimate Fitness Plan" challenge! Whew!

I've been doing a great job of eating well for the last few months and even staying active...and I've seen results! As you can tell from pictures in previous posts, when I first moved up here to PA, I indulged quite a bit in the delicious food I'd been deprived of all these years....haha. But, now I'm back to the basics. I actually gave up fried food and pizza for Lent - and am proud to say that I've done very well with my sacrifice. I've slipped twice, but since I haven't been taking the days off on Sundays - I figured that was okay. Plus, as a "bonus sacrifice", I gave up desserts/candy. I mostly wanted to see how long I could go without eating any and I've done remarkably well with that, too! :-)

Anyway, I joined the Planet Fitness gym by my house and have gone for a couple weeks. But, I feel so lost when I go there. I don't know how to use the machines, I can never seem to turn on the eliptical, and I feel silly when I go there to use the mats! So, I usually end up running a couple miles on the treadmill and calling it a night. I need direction! I went on to the Women's Health site and found the Ultimate Fitness Plan. There are very structured workouts, and meal plans for every day. Using the program, I'm supposed to reach "my ideal weight" in a month. haha. Well, I don't know if that will happen...but I do know that I'll be in Toronto in 3 weeks and sunny Florida in 4, so I'm willing to give it a try!

Today is Day 1. Woke up early and had oatmeal for breakfast. Just printed up the meal plan for the week and I'll be going to the Broad Street Market for the fresh stuff this morning...and then the Giant (my favorite grocery store) for the rest of it.

Lots of errands, cleaning, etc. this morning...but Gym later today!

I'll be sure to provide updates as I go through the process. By the way, it just hit me that I'm starting this program just a couple days before Lent is over. Translation: I still won't be able to eat chicken wings for another month! Ahh! I guess I'm working a little closer to this becoming a lifestyle change, huh? Sheesh.

Wish me luck.

Ultimate Fitness Plan
Meal Plan

Dodging the Squirts...

Flag football season ended well for The Hershey Squirts. We ended up as 4th seed in the Playoffs and fought a good fight. Shortly after football season ended, I started playing volleyball on a league at work. Fun group of people - but the game sucks! Okay, okay, the game doesn't suck...I do. I am HORRIBLE at volleyball. Just plain horrible. I've decided that I need more aggressive sports.

Dodgeball season started last week...also with the Harrisburg Young Professionals organization we played football with. The Hershey Squirts are back in business!!

You may be surprised, but dodgeball is a serious workout! So serious that the day after our first game, we all shared emails back and forth about how much pain we were in, how sore our arms were, ...how pathetic we were that dodgeball had kicked our butts physically!! And emotionally. We lost the first night.

We were ready to come back with a vengeance this week. We lost. Again.

There's always next week... :-/

Blizzard in PA!

So, it's a Friday night in Pennsylvania...and it's snowing! Surprise, surprise! Although we're expected to get about 15-18 inches of snow over the course of the weekend, I have to admit that I'm kind of excited about it! The last time it snowed like this this winter was the weekend of December 19 when I was supposed to be headed home for the holidays. I ended up being stuck here in Harrisburg for days until I could find a flight back to sunny Florida.

This time is different. Last blizzard, I could hardly enjoy the laziness of sitting around the house, watching movies, and enjoying the company of people you care about. Instead, i was so concerned that I'd never make it back to Jax for Christmas - that I spent the better part of that weekend stressed out. This time around, it really is different.

When I got off work, I packed a bag with a couple outfits, my work stuff, a couple DVDs, and hit the door! Off to spend the weekend, snowed in, with the 'bf'!! There's something really relaxing about sitting on the couch, watching a good tv show, playing on the computer, and watching the snow fall outside. I have to admit, it is surprisingly pretty.

Tonight on my way over here, I had my first rough experience driving in the snowy, wintery weather. At first, my car fish-tailed a bit as I turned a corner...and just shortly after I had gotten back on track, I drove about a quarter of a mile or so...and lost complete control again. The second time was very scary though - there was another car coming in my direction and started to also lose control. Next thing I know, my car was no longer moving forward, and moving sideways toward the car on my left, then the sign on the right, the curb....it was bad. By the grace of God, I managed to regain control - and slow the car down and stop safely. Whew - that was scary!! Fortunately, when I moved here...everyone gave me little tips about how to react in that sort of situation...that definitely helped! (thanks!)

Thankfully, I'm safe and sound, cozy and warm, and ready for a good night's sleep!!